spending related to medicare, medicaid, and social security will not be affected, and neither will national security. all other discretionary government programs will. finally, i have called for a bipartisan fiscal commission, a panel of democrats and republicans who would sit down and hammer out concrete deficit reduction proposals by a certain deadline. we have heard plenty of talk and yelling about deficits, and it is time to come together and make the painful choices we need to eliminate those deficits. this past week, 53 democrats and republicans voted for this commission in the senate, but it failed when seven republicans who had co-sponsored the idea in the first place suddenly decided to vote against it. it is one thing to have an honest difference of opinion about something. i will always respect those who take a principled stand for what they believe, even if i disagree with it. what i will not accept is changing positions because it is good policy. i will not accept opposition for opposition's sake. i am eager and ready to work with anyone who is serious about solving the real pr